source: Ebony Magazine, November 2007
The Sweet Potato
The sweet potato or sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young shoots and leaves are sometimes eaten as greens. Cultivars of the sweet potato have been bred to bear tubers with flesh and skin of various colors. Sweet potato is only distantly related to the common potato (Solanum tuberosum), both being in the order Solanales. Although darker sweet potatoes are often referred to as “yams” in parts of North America, the species is even more distant from the true yams, which are monocots in the order Dioscoreales.
Sweet potatoes in South America
The sweet potato is native to the tropical regions of South America in what is present-day Ecuador. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of Convolvulaceae, I. batatas is the only crop plant of major importance—some others are used locally (e.g., I. aquatica “kangkong” as a green vegetable), but many are poisonous. The genus Ipomoea that contains the sweet potato also includes several garden flowers called morning glories, but that term is not usually extended to I. batatas.
Some cultivars of I. batatas are grown as ornamental plants under the name tuberous morning glory, and used in a horticultural context. Sweet potatoes can also be called yams in North America. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. Enslaved Africans had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the unrelated yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties. (Wikipedia)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 and 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 and 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and diced
4 and 1/2 cups low-sodium broth
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt to taste
1/4-pound cooked medium shrimp
toasted shredded coconut
Directions
For curry sweet potato soup with shrimp, heat butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, curry powder, and crushed red pepper. Cook and stir until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add sweet potatoes, apple, and broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until sweet potatoes and apple are tender, about 30 minutes. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return soup to pot and stir in coconut milk, brown sugar, and garlic powder. Heat until the soup is heated through, stirring occasionally. (Additional broth can be added if needed.) Season the soup with salt to taste. Ladle soup into bowls, and garnish with shrimp and coconut if desired.
Enjoy!
Also, try the Chunky Potato Soup recipe